


In The Shadow of Vinea

by Stonehill



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: AU, Action, Adventure, F/M, Fantasy, Half-AU, suggested romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-14
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-02-13 04:12:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2136561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stonehill/pseuds/Stonehill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Rukh guides him into the city beneath the great Labyrinth and in the shadow he finds more than a corrupt city and a Djinn. He finds a girl of red jade dressed in the clothes of a commoner, who is meant for so much more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lychees and Red Jade

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. First fic on AO3. It's kind of frightening. I've also posted this on FFnet so everything beneath are notes from there (in case the context confuses)  
> Just a quick AN here before we get started!
> 
> This is a half-AU of the "what if Kougyoku didn't grow up in the castle, but with her mother's family?" kind. I've been thinking about it for a while, that it would be interesting to have Kougyoku and Sinbad meet under different circumstances, and how that would change the story slightly. So this is my idea of what that would look like.
> 
> This is only a short fic, however, so it'll be over soon enough.
> 
> I won't be posting this on a special date since the last couple of times I've been promising to post on special dates I've been unable to ... mainly because I couldn't be arsed. So I'll be posting on a whim - sorry about that, but fear not! The story HAS been finished so it WILL be up!
> 
> Happy Reading!

In Tailin's history, the city could have never counted itself as big or as prospering as it did under the reign of the Kou empire.

It had been under the dominion of many states over the centuries but had never seen true peace until a year after it had been conquered by the first emperor, Ren Hakutoku.

It wasn't thanks to the reign of the empire that the town grew prospering, though had they sent a less shrewd regent, what followed might never have come to pass.

Because what happened that summer, which helped the port town grow into a great city, was this;

A dungeon appeared in the bay.

It wasn't a normal dungeon to hold prisoners, but a place to test the strength of millions and only pass one. That one person would enter the dungeon, undergo a series of tests, and come out with a newfound power.

This magical tower was not the first to appear either. There had been sightings of several other towers around the world. Already, some had been conquered and  millions had perished within them.

As one might guess, the first wave of people came because they wished to conquer the dungeon, but as the reckless were swallowed by the tower, the wiser stayed behind. While this happened, the natives of the town found that the dungeon had brought something else with it; a wellspring of mussels with beautiful and valuable pearls hidden inside.

Because of this trade grew and while the city grew with it the wares sold here changed as well, so that the port and the lower parts of town eventually developed into a constant market with everything from Kou silk to gold from the Desert of Forgotten Souls and art from Reim.

The fame of the city grew and with it the amount of citizens increased because a city like Tailin was greatly appreciated due to its location. It lay so remotely on the map that the war never reached it. And while the dungeon soon became something feared, instead of an opportunity for fame and fortune, the regent saw other uses for it; it became a way of punishment.

All this created a shadow of peace that, while it was fueled by fear, it was still something people sought far more than what lay inside the dungeon.

* * *

Sinbad had come for the Djinn in the tower, but he wasn’t stupid enough to boast of it. So he stepped off the boat he had come with, gaze on the impressive building, and then back to check the coast was clear.

He’d snuck away from the others again, but he’d be damned if he was going to make a grand entrance. Well, probably not, he thought grinning, but he wanted to poke around a bit to check if the rumors were true. Most likely, the situation was worse…

The port, one of the largest he’d ever stood in outside a capital, was a truly vast place with all kinds of boats and ships. From the small ones that divers used to get the molluscs at the bottom of the bay, to the galleys having come from as far away as Heliohapt at the heart of the Desert of Forgotten Souls. He recognized those ships well, having come with one himself.

He hoped Sharrkan wouldn’t murder him in his sleep.

Well, it was more likely to be Jafar who’d go to such lengths, but the assassin had grown more patient over the years.

There were all kinds of people here.

Sailors who loaded wares to and from the ships, old fishing masters who were lounging during the day, waiting for night to fall so the fish would bite. There were children running around near the water’s edge, fishing for crabs and expertly dodging the paths of the working men and women. Sinbad saw swords for hire and aristocratsHe saw people of all shapes and sizes, of all colours and dress. He was sure he even saw a mage and a Fanalis.

And then there were the guards, of course. They were everywhere, carrying the red robes of the Kou empire.

Sinbad avoided the guards with ease, catching on to their waveforms and avoiding them before they ever saw him.

The port opened into an enormous market that stretched through the streets all the way up to the keep, which towered halfway up a dormant volcano.

Locals sold everything from clothing to fish to fresh fruits, which were hard to find in this part of the world. It was so hot here after all. In the streets Merchants sat in open tents, bargaining for more expensive wares with their hands covered in cloth so only the two knew the price. Mages sold spells, farmers sold crops, fishermen sold all kinds of sea life from squids to live sea turtle.

As Sinbad ventured up towards the keep, the wares turned to more expensive tastes. Gold and silk, jade statues, pearls in all sizes and colors were sold here. He even saw ancient texts that could only belong to dungeons and he wondered how they’d come to this point.

Sinbad stopped to look through one of them. It truly was an original, and though he could not read the Tran language, he thought it was probably best if it didn’t get into the wrong hands. And there were others who could read it. Drakon who had come with him, (for example).

“How much is this?” he asked, turning back to the tradesman. He looked like he was from Quishan. 

The trader turned his squinty pig eyes to Sinbad, looking suspicious. At the look of all the metal vessels hanging around Sinbad’s neck and the golden earrings he seemed to decide that here was a man he could rob blind. “Oh, you have a good eye there, great lord of the crowd,” he said. “A rare treasure this is.”

Sinbad masked his surprise easily. Definitely from Quishan. He’d have to be careful then. “I’m sure all great finds are rare treasures in the right hand,” he said. “And how much would this hidden jewel be in your hands, oh master merchant?”

Had it been Jafar taking care of the deal the title would probably have sounded more like “Oh master of many trinkets”. An insult that would sting as intended for Jafar hated the way people from Quishan spoke to each other.

“It’ll be one-hundred-and-fifty Huang, grand ruler of all those generous,” the merchant said forcing his voice to sound casual and failing.

Sinbad laughed. “I’ll give you four golden solidus coins from Reim,” he said.

“Eight.”

“Five.”

“Seven.”

“Six.”

“Deal!”

The coins changed hands and Sinbad paused. “Tell me now,” he said and glanced out over the market. Here in the inner town, some people had stepped into the large water reservoirs to avoid the heat of midday. A wise choice, he thought. “What’s the deal with that tower in the middle of the bay? Do they really keep prisoners in there?”

The merchant shook his head, looking incredulous. “Do you not know what that is?” when Sinbad shook his head the man explained “That is a Dungeon. It’s a place where you can obtain great wealth if you are of the right build! There is magic in there like you will never see in your wildest dreams and treasure to sate the greediest of men. Some even say they contain Djinn."

There was a pause, then the merchant added “Have you ever heard of Sinbad?”

The man himself shook his head again. He had a hard time fighting back a smirk. “No. Who’s that?”

It had probably been a while since the merchant had had an eager listener for he seemed to grow an inch or two, being able to tell this tale. “It’s this Partevian kid who’s conquered the first Dungeon when he was only thirteen. Millions of people had tried before him, most of the Partevian army walked to its death in there - for the sake of the royal family. Yet that child managed it and when he came out of there he took not a single treasure with him. Not that he had much of a choice seeing as the army would have liked to kill him.”

"It’s been ten years since then and by now he has conquered six dungeons, created a country in the middle of the sea called Sindria where everyone are free and equal, and even made a federation!”

“He sounds amazing.”

“Oh, that he is, most generous of customers! To the little man he is a hero, though I hear he has a tendency of getting himself into trouble.”

“Oh?” Sinbad asked, drawing out the questioning sound. “I can’t imagine why?”

The merchant told a couple of tales. The most accurate one was probably the one about his fight with Judal a few months back. The others were so old he could barely recognise them since they'd had so much time to change. He waited a bit, then pulled the conversation back on track.

“But this tower - dungeon -“ Sinbad waved a hand in the direction of the building “- what’s its deal?”

“Right,” the man said. He’d lost his caution, so engrossed was he in being listened to that he did not hold back on the information, though he did lower his voice. “Those dungeons are raised by the high priest of the Kou empire. He’s a great mage and they are actually meant for the imperial princes and princesses, but you know -“

His eyes flickered nervously to something behind Sinbad and turned to see two women whispering to each other, looking positively alarmed. He shot them his most charming smile and they both flushed to the hair.

Sinbad turned back to the merchant. “You were saying?”

But the Quishanian trader had turned a deadly pale. “Ah, I- I’m sorry, most illustrious of listeners, but I fear I have spoken with little to no care,” he said. “I am sure there are other more important matters Your Grace should be attending to.”

With that he turned away, leaving Sinbad to his own thoughts.

* * *

Sinbad spent the next hour or so searching the market, speaking with various people, and avoiding the guard.

By the time he grew hungry, he thought he’d gathered most of the intel he needed. What a morbid way of using the Dungeon. Though he supposed it had turned out a rather effective method.

Apparently, though the dungeons were meant for the Imperial princes and princesses to go and gain their own powers, many people had been allowed in for a small fee - in the beginning anyway. When the glory-seekers had been swallowed up by the world’s many dungeons and only the sensible ones had been left, the city’s Regent had turned to other methods of keeping the Dungeon useful.

Not only was it being used for executions, but they made a show out of it. He’d probably been inspired by Reim, though, having seen the inside of more than one Dungeon, Sinbad thought this was far more morbid than the games at the amphitheaters.

What seemed to amuse people the most about all this was that the youngest son of the emperor had come here last year with an army, stepped into the dungeon and never come back.

Sinbad stopped at a reservoir, looked out over the many people standing there, talking, and considered taking a dip himself.

On the other hand, he’d come from an even hotter place so he’d honestly rather have a good drink,and maybe something to eat too. The question was whether or not he should be returning to Jafar and the others to get it.

Something fluttered past him then, golden and full of life. Sinbad instinctively turned to look where the wave had come from, only to catch a scent of lychee, his eyes focusing on red jade.

The girl standing not too many feet from him was being yelled at by a plumb man with all kinds of stains down his clothes. He was waving a very sharp knife in her face and speaking rapidly in a dialect Sinbad wasn’t familiar with.

Never one to leave a girl in trouble, he stepped forwards, flanked her side and smiled down at the elder. “Excuse me,” he said. “I’m sorry to interrupt bu-“

“As you damn well should be!” the man exploded, now in perfectly understandable lingo. “This has nothing to do with you, foreigner.”

He spat at the ground just before Sinbad’s feet, turned and stomped back to his booth, which sold fresh fruit. He took up guard at his stall, watching them owlishly.

To Sinbad’s surprise the girl took the basket she’d been carrying on her head, placed it carefully on the ground and bowed to him. “I’m terribly sorry,” she said, voice barely audible over the rush of the crowd around them.

Sinbad waved his hand, laughing. “There’s no need for you to apologize,” he said. “If anything I was the one who meddled.”

The girl glanced up at him and he caught sight of her red eyes and pale white skin. Unusual. He smiled warmly down at her. “Now please, dear lady,” he said, reaching out and touching her chin in a feather-like brush. “No woman should ever be forced to bow as deeply as you’re doing now. Raise your head and straighten your shoulders so the world can see your lovely face.”

And she did have a lovely face, even as it reddened to fit the colour of her hair. But he’d been sure he’d seen something ferocious in her gaze only moments ago, looks he’d only otherwise seen in men more used to lifting a sword than holding a loved one. Sinbad was sure he’d done the fruit seller a favor.

With speed he hadn’t expected she’d avoided his hand, grabbed her basket and spun to leave him in the market.

Sinbad grinned and hurried to catch up. “I’m actually pretty thirsty, would you perhaps have a fruit stall from which I could buy something to patch up my dry throat?”

The girl in red jade shot him a suspicious look, but he just smiled at her. It seemed to be the general custom here to be suspicious of foreigners and there was something hesitant in her suspiscion, as if it was learned instead of natural. “M-My family owns a stall, yes,” she admitted, diverting her gaze again.

He hummed. “Do you mind me asking what the argument was about?” he inquired curiously. He wasn’t going to pry if she didn’t want to answer, but he might as well keep a conversation now that he’d found something interesting in this city.

She weaved herself through a group of merchants, added apologies where they  were needed, turned a corner, and Sinbad almost lost her because -he- had so much trouble getting through the throng.

When he caught up again she answered. “He was accusing me of stealing,” she said, looking troubled.

From what Sinbad had gathered from others in this port town that was a grave thing to be yelling about. More for the sake of testing her, he said “and … did you steal?”

She bristled, turning a deadly glare his way. “I had both hands on my basket, how could I possibly steal?”

Sinbad shot her another charming smile, now that she was looking at him. “I never expected you to,” he said.

Her face flushed again, but before she could reply someone called “Kougyoku!” through the crowd. Her head whipped around in the direction of the voice, basket tilting, fruits flying.

Sinbad caught the perfectly ripe lychee just as a woman came rushing through the crowd. Her black hair was thinning to a natural grey and she had smiling wrinkles at the edges of her eyes. They grew cold as they landed on the girl, but when she saw Sinbad was accompanying her, she smiled, her features growing warm once more. “Where have you been, girl?” she demanded.

Kougyoku bowed to the woman. “I apologize, aunt,” she said. “I brought a customer, though.”

The woman’s kind smile turned to Sinbad, and she gave him all her attention, asking to his likes and dislikes in fruit. Sinbad kept only half his attention on her, choosing instead to study the girl whose name he found to be rather interesting. Another peculiar feature.

The stall was a big one and the woman explained that her husband owned a successful plantation not too far from the town. 

While they chattered, Sinbad watched Kougyoku out of the corner of his eye. She was setting up the lychee she had been carrying. She worked with special care, concentrating on her task.

When her aunt turned away to talk to a young man by the door to the shop, Sinbad took his chance to throw the lychee he’d caught earlier into the basket of fruits so they landed neatly on top.

She looked up, shocked to be interrupted and he smiled again. “Actually I’d like a bag of those,” he said, coming over. “They look perfectly ripe.”

Kougyoku glanced after her aunt, but the woman was absorbed in her own conversation. “Right away, sir.” Her voice had taken on a practiced sweetness, a polite tone used often in the market. It didn’t fit her at all, he thought.

She filled a large bag for him and he handed out two golden coins, also from Reim. She gaped at the amount, too surprised at the price he’d paid for their fruit to protest.

He plucked the paper bag from her hands, but before he turned away completely, his hand already pulling a fruit out of the bag, he winked at her.

Starting towards his actual destination in the upper levels of town he cut the skin off with a knife and bit into the fruit.

_Sweet._

* * *

_ “Where have you been?!” _

Jafar stormed across the room and was in Sinbad’s face before he had closed the door. “We were supposed to meet the Regent two hours ago!”

"I got lost in the market."

There was a collective exclamation of 'bullshit' from the room and Sinbad frowned at his companions. He'd brought Jafar, Sharrkan, Hinahoho, Pisti and Drakon with him. The latter being the only one who had fully merged with his household vessel and therefore actually looked like Dragon.

Sinbad gave a long suffering sigh. "Alas, what has the world come to if people view me with suspicion and even my friends do not believe what I tell them?"

He dodged Jafar's murderous glare and stepped properly into the room, all jokes leaving him. "Was he very upset?"

"Very," Drakon confirmed. "But he also understands his position, meaning he wasn't about to throw us in the Dungeon for your insolence."

"Ah, so you heard about that too," Sinbad confirmed.  The others nodded.

"Well, it's not like he knows that's why we're here," Pisti piped up. "Or he'd definitely want to throw us out. The Kou Empire is very protective of their dungeons."

She grinned at a memory and Sinbad laughed. They'd conquered two within Kou's territory.

They compared stories and Sinbad heard the full, tragic, tale of the Kou prince who had perished in the depths of the dungeon. "The Regent kept going on and on about how it was weird with that boy," Sharrkan drawled. "Saying he didn't look like any of the other princes and how it was uncommon for a son of Koutoku not to have his hair of red jade."

Sinbad raised an eyebrow at this. "He didn't? I thought all his sons and daughters bore his features," he said, and while he did so he reached out to take the goblet Sharrkan had left on the table, unprotected.

The swordsman caught on too quickly and grabbed the goblet, quickly draining it. "Ha! Go get your own wine, Sin!"

Their king rose and while he went to get a drink from what the hotel staff had set out for them, Jafar continued the tale. "I don't think it's anything we need to worry about. The dungeon of Vinea isn't more dangerous than anything else we've seen. The prince didn't even bring Judal with him, after all."

"Few of the Imperial Children has," Drakon pointed out.

"Yes, but this boy was only fourteen at the time," Pisti piped up. "It'd have required a miracle for him to have survived in there."

"Thank you," Sinbad said, returning to his seat.

"I wasn't complimenting you," she said cheekily. "You're not human after all."

"Of course, I am," Sinbad said, pulling out the bag of Lychee. He rummaged through it and pulled out another fruit.

"Where'd you get those, Sin?" Jafar asked cautiously. It was common knowledge between all of them that their king wasn't cautious enough, nor did he seem to care that there were plenty of people out there who'd like to poison him.

"Market," Sinbad said, holding out the bag. "Want one?"

Jafar shook his head and Sinbad shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Can I have one?" Pisti asked.

Sinbad threw one at her. "I've taken quite a liking to them and may have to bring some with me back to Sindria," he said, thinking of the girl in red jade.

Hinahoho stole the fruit out of Pisti's hands while Drakon shook his head. "I wouldn't even try importing them," he said. "They did in Partevia once and the fruit grew bad after only three days off the tree."

"Pity," Sinbad said, he bit into his fruit, savoured the taste and then handed over the bag to the affronted Pisti. Hinahoho was laughing. "I'd still like to give it a try.”


	2. Capital Punishment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First some translations:  
> Ren Zha is actually an insult which indicates that the person is useless and seen as garbage. I don't know a lot about Chinese, though, so if I'm wrong, I'm sorry, but it's just what I could find on Wikipedia.  
> Taifu is the chinese equivalent of ojiisan - also from wikipedia.  
> Dianxia is used to address members of the imperial family - ALSO from wikipedia.
> 
> Other than that. Here is the second chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Things will heat up from now on so look forwards to it!

The sun was just coming up over the city walls as the cart rolled into place in front of the city gates.

"We're here." A rough hand prodded her shoulder and Kougyoku woke from her half slumber, stretching and yawning. She'd been sleeping in the cart again so her body was aching from the hard surface and uncomfortable drive.

Her older cousin was already turning towards the gates; they were kept open all the time during harvest, though carts were not allowed inside unless they came from outside Tailin's borders.

Kougyoku jumped off the cart. "How many times will you be back here today?" she asked.

"Considering we got the largest wagon today," her cousin said. He scratched his chin in thought and then continued, "only three times should be enough. Do you want me to pick you up tonight or would you rather sleep in the tent?"

Kougyoku considered it. Her aunt would be there, overseeing the daily work and her son would be there as well, working as a guard. It was either sleeping in the wagon or spending the evening and night in awkward silence. "Would it be too much trouble if you'd have to wait for me?"

Her cousin shrugged and then said, "it's not like I have much better to do."

Kougyoku shot him a smile and said "thanks. I appreciate it."

Her cousin pulled down her first basket of fruit, which contained figs. He handed it to her and she placed it on her head, balancing easily. "I'll see you later," she said before turning away to walk into the city.

Tailin was only just waking up, though people from the outside were already carrying goods, preparing their stalls, talking in hushed voices, as was the case through most of the day. Kougyoku watched them with the detachment of anyone who walked the streets every day.

Since it was harvest time, there were more people and it was the only time of the year she got to see the city, for she spent the rest of the year at her uncle's plantation. Though she enjoyed the solitude of working amongst the plants, she liked the bustle of people and the close proximity to the ocean far more.

Her aunt was just pushing aside the covers from the small building behind the stall when Kougyoku arrived. She greeted her niece curtly before turning away to wake her son, who had been sleeping in the tent outside.

Kougyoku turned away from them and started emptying the basket of figs into the almost empty crate. Once that was done she turned back around and walked out into the street, retracing her route to where her cousin would be waiting with the next basket. She repeated this ritual all morning, and once that was done she was ordered to go get breakfast.

She walked past the reservoirs where she'd gotten into an argument with the fruit seller and met that strange foreigner the day before. From there, she turned south towards the bread market.

One stall sold the most delicious steamed buns. The owner brightened when he saw her and she gave a shy bow.

"I hear you got into quite the argument with Ren Zha yesterday," the elderly man said when she'd ordered her usual order. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you," she said, feeling some of the warmth for the bread seller sneak into her tone.

"If he gives you anymore trouble, come to me," he said, waving his chopsticks threateningly. "I'll teach him a lesson or two."

Guilt flooded her system. Such exclamations weren't a good thing in this place. "Please," she said. "It's not wise to speak such words here, taifu."

Her elder smiled kindly and patted her cheek in such a familiar manner it made her blush. "You are too humble, dianxia," he said, handing over a small round casket filled with steaming buns.

Kougyoku paled at the honorific. She couldn't hold up her hands to receive the casket, nor could she look away from his kind eyes. "E-excuse me, wha- what did you say, taifu?" she stuttered. "I- I must have mis-miss heard."

"I just said you were being too humble. Now hurry and bring these back to your family before they grow cold. I've added some extra with meat," he said and winked at her.

With shaking hands Kougyoku took the casket and exited, forgetting to bow. As soon as she was outside the stall, her eyes flickered frantically for a few seconds, but no one was looking at her strangely, no one was hurrying to talk to anybody. It was like he'd never even called her that.

_...Dianxia..._

She'd never heard that expression spoken to anyone before. She hadn't been there when the youngest Imperial Prince had come to Tailin after all, since it had been out of the harvest season. The honorific was one used to address the members of the Imperial Clan, not something used for ordinary people.

If anyone had heard, they'd surely send her into the Dungeon.

Kougyoku shivered in the hot morning sun and then hurried down the street, not fast enough to run, but definitely as fast as she could walk.

She was almost glad her aunt made her deal with customers that day. That meant she couldn't sink into her own mind and ponder over what had happened. Worse yet, she was almost happy to see the man from yesterday walking up to their stall once more - and even happier that her aunt wasn't there to pamper him with attention for the large sum he'd paid for yesterday's lychees.

He greeted her cheerfully and ordered an impossibly large bag of lychees. "I had to fight my companions over the one yesterday," he explained casually. "So I want to make sure we have enough today."

Kougyoku bowed her head at the indirect praise. "We're very honoured to be gifted with your patronage," she said sincerely.

"I'd start importing them if I could," he said, sounding wistful. "Though Drakon tells me they rot quickly after being taken off the branch -" he picked up a lychee and plucked it from the small piece of branch still attached "- is that why you cut them off like this?"

"Yes," she replied, reaching out to caress a leaf.

Her cousin stepped up beside her, his hand touching her shoulder briefly. "Kougyoku, are you keeping an eye on the sun?"

Her eyes moved from the fruit in the casket to the cloudless sky. The sun had moved several inches above them and she knew they'd soon be back with a new load. "Ah, thank you, Sun Quan," she exclaimed, and hurried around the table, thrusting the bag of fruit into the foreigner's hands. She bowed and spun on her heal, hurrying down the street.

* * *

It happened towards the evening, when she was carrying the last basket back to the wagon.

Twilight had descended and the lamps in the streets had been lit. The shadows lurked everywhere at this time, but they did not bother Kougyoku. She had checked and she was still wearing her dagger at her waist.

People had moved down towards the port, leaving the streets fairly empty. They'd be sailing out in small boats to get closer to the entrance of Vinea where all the criminals of this day were to be transported into the Dungeon. It was an event she avoided with the utmost care.

She wondered briefly why it had come to this, but pushed the thoughts aside. There was nothing she could do anyway. She was just a single little girl with no power after all.

A boy ran into her just as she crossed a square and she stumbled, almost dropping the basket.

"Sorry!" he yelled over his shoulder, continuing down the street. She hadn't even caught sight of his face before he'd vanished.

Shrugging it off, Kougyoku gathered herself and hurried towards the gates where her cousin must be waiting for her. She passed the bread stall from earlier; it'd been closed for the night. The owner must have either gone to bed or gone to the Dungeon.

With a start, she remembered her conversation with him that morning. She stumbled again, but caught herself. It was a ridiculous thing to fret about and she'd probably misheard anyway. She knew people talked behind her back, about her hair, and her skin, but there was nothing to it. Her uncle had assured her that her mother had never had anything to do with the imperial family, when she'd first asked him and while he'd never been truly kind to her, she believed him.

They didn't talk about her mother much. She'd given birth outside of marriage and her mother had been punished accordingly by dying in childbirth.

Kougyoku shuddered at the wording. It was the way her aunt always spoke in the small moments she did mention Kougyoku's mother.

The girl pushed aside her worries and turned another corner.

She hadn't gotten far before she felt something sneak up on her. The sudden fearful warning that trickled through her mind made her heart dance in her chest. She felt the shadow pass over her, but before she could reach for her dagger someone grabbed her by her long hair and hoisted her into the air.

It hurt!

Kougyoku gave a strangled cry as gravity pulled at her, tearing at her scalp. She dropped her basket. Tears stung in her eyes.

"I finally caught you," a thick male voice said, his sticky breath rushing over her face and neck. He reeked of rot and alcohol. It burned her nose, and she tried to pull away from him.

Someone groped the pockets of her robes and her eyes opened abruptly as he let go of her hair. Kougyoku stumbled, but managed to remain on her feet. She looked around in panic, but soon found what she was looking for.

Ren Zha gave a victorious laugh. He stepped so close she could feel the disgusting heat from his body and waved a wallet in her face. "I knew it'd be you," he said, spittle hitting her face.

Now that she was free, Kougyoku took a step back, her fear draining away. Where he had come from she could not know, there certainly weren't any other people in the street "I - I don't know what you're talking about," she stuttered. The tears were still stinging in her eyes, but she was very quickly calming down.

(Ren Zha took a threatening step closer to her and he towered over her, obviously intent on intimidating her. Half his teeth were rotten.

"You stole my wallet, little daughter of a whore," he hissed. "I knew it as soon as I laid eyes on you that you were a thief. Just like your mother."

The last of her fear ebbed away and she felt the cold anger she'd felt the day before flow back into her system. A part of her knew it was ridiculous to be angry at his words - she had never known her mother - but there was a much larger part of her that wanted to avenge the insult. Heck, from the first time she'd met the man she'd felt ready to hurt him, she'd wanted to see his blood spilt.

Confused at the sudden impulse for violence, Kougyoku shook herself and took a couple of steps back, touching her forehead as the world swam before her eyes. "Wha-"

"Enough," the fruit trader snapped. He grabbed her by the upper arm -"I'm going to make you regret the day you ever crossed my path, little thieving whore"- and started dragging her down the street. His fingers were sweaty and greasy and she was grateful there was at least two layers of cloth to protect her from them. The grip was tight, and he held her arm in an awkward position, forcing her to come along.

As he dragged her off she did not protest at first, too dazed and confused by what was happening, the anger she had only felt on few occasions.

Still, as she heard the noise of the crowd her senses came back, and she realised what he was planning on doing.

A whole new type of fear sprung to life within her and she started digging her heels into the ground. "No. No, please, I didn't steal anything," she pleaded. "There's got to be some - some mistake!"

_Anything but the Dungeon._

People died horrible deaths in there! There were strange monsters and terrible traps. She'd read some of Sinbad's accounts( too. She couldn't survive in there! She'd rather just get executed the normal way.

But no matter how much she struggled, Ren Zha just continued towards the crowd.

Her yells must have been heard, for three guards came their way, demanding to know what was happening.

"This little  _twit_  -" Ren Zha flung Kougyoku to the ground. She gave a yelp of surprise, thrust out her arms and barely avoided hitting her head on the cobble "- has been stealing from my fruit stall for weeks! Now I finally caught her with my wallet in her pocket!"

Kougyoku turned just in time to see him hold up the flat piece of cloth again. She opened her mouth to protest, to say she hadn't done anything, but Ren Zha spoke up again. "I want her punished, and I want her punished right now!"

The girl opened her mouth again, looking from Ren Zha to the guards. They were exchanging looks and then nodding to each other. Her mouth felt dry. She forgot what she was supposed to be saying.

This couldn't be happening!

She hadn't done anything!

* * *

The roar of the crowd was unbelievable as Kougyoku was helped onto the platform with the other criminals. There weren't that many, her blank mind noted.

The rough hand on her shoulder forced her to turn her back to the large tower and the other criminals so she was facing the city. There were so many small boats in the water that their lamps lit up the whole port. Even more people had gathered on the docks.

They looked so excited, smiling and laughing, talking amongst themselves. It wasn't even that interesting a thing. It was just criminals being forced to enter a shining gate.

But as she soon found out, it was what the criminals would do to try and get away that really caught people's attention.

Some screamed loudly, begging, humiliating themselves. Others tried to make a run for it, and the guards allowed that because there was no escape from the little platform. The crowd laughed. There was even one who tried to fight them off, a big man of much strength, but the guards laughed and stabbed him in the side so the blood sprayed before they kicked him through the gates.

An innate hatred for them sprung up in her suddenly. She'd never been treated with kindness in her own family, had always been pushed a little to the side because of her mother. She'd been called all kinds of things, even those meant in kindness, terrified her. But she'd never seen this kind of cruelty in people before.

The bloodlust was there again, before, she could stop it and it must have shown on her face for the guard walking over to drag her off paled and took a step back.

"I'm not going to run anywhere," Kougyoku said. "So please release my binds, I'd like to die an honorable death."

Another guard came over and the two exchanged looks. They didn't seem to think there was any harm in that so they cut the binds on her hands.

A hushed silence had fallen over the port as she straightened, feeling her head clear. She turned her back to the people she'd despised a moment ago. She wasn't that kind of person, was she? In a desperate situation did she really start hating what was right in front of her?

Kougyoku's eyes travelled up the Dungeon of Vinea. No. All this had come about because of this dungeon. It'd brought all kinds of troubles into the hearts of people; greed, bloodlust, wrath, hatred.

An elbow in her back forcefully pushed her forwards and she stumbled towards the stairs.

There was no way she could get away from this, no way she even had a remote chance of turning back.

So maybe she should face it instead?

Before she could falter in this new idea, she spun on the nearest unexpecting soldier, reached out and pulled his sword out of his scabbard. It was a dramatic display, one she could have avoided had they not already taken her dagger before she'd been taken onto the platform.

There was a moment of stunned silence, which Kougyoku didn't waste any time joining in on. The sword was heavy in her hand, but it was sharp and well taken care of, and nothing she hadn't carried before - though she'd never used it to save her life.

Yells of "Hey!" and "Give that back", as well as much laughter from the crowd, rose behind her. Kougyoku stopped for nothing, running up the stairs as fast as she could.

She didn't even stop to consider the wall in front of her, knowing that as soon as it touched her it'd swallow her up.

Bright light engulfed her, and she suddenly plunged into an ocean of darkness.

* * *

When she next opened her eyes, she was floating in space.

Stars swam in her visions and she blinked hard to clear it.

In front of her was a large orb. It shone with red light, looking like it was covered in lava. Her heart sank at the sight.

What was this? Where was she?

And why did she feel such a dreadful sense of foreboding?

* * *

Her lungs contracted and she tried to breathe.

Water entered her mouth and she spluttered, suddenly feeling the cold liquid all around her. The dirty floor of the reservoir beneath her.

Quickly, she pushed off with her hands and broke the surface.

Kougyoku gulped down air, rubbing her eyes as fast as she could. She'd been just about to drown.

She looked around herself, trying to take in her surroundings, all the while groping for the sword she'd just stolen. It was ironically the first thing she'd ever stolen. To think it brought accusations of thievery to actually becoming a thief and not the other way around.

Her hand caught on something in the water; something fleshy and she felt a chill of disgust running down her spine.

Rising quickly to her feet she looked around properly.

She'd landed just on the edge of the pool where there was only a few feet of water, but just beside that, there was a cliff, deepening the reservoir so the bottom fell away sharply.

The leg she'd touched was attached to a body, which hung over the edge. Just beside him was her sword.

Quickly Kougyoku bowed to retrieve the weapon, but as she did so she brushed the body again and this time it slipped fully over the edge, vanishing into the darkness.

Kougyoku gave a shudder and took several steps back.

There was a rumble all around her and the water started moving towards the deep end of the pool in a rushing current, pulling at her legs with incredible force.

Lights flooded the room and Kougyoku, standing so close to the edge, and being pulled steadily nearer saw what lay at the bottom of the pool.

A large flower had opened at the bottom of the pool and she could see giant teeth all along its petals. It stretched out and in its middle was a large mouth with jaws wide enough to swallow buildings. Now it was swallowing the water, creating a rushing whirlpool as dangerous as the worst of sea storms.

With a sinking feeling of dread, Kougyoku realised what had eaten all the people who had come here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And since I'm here I might as well do a small commercial for my original story. I am posting a fantasy thing on dA of my own composition. Here is a small summary:
> 
> "When Emily and Lucy's parents died their only living relative is a strange younger sister of their mothers, named Brooke, a kindhearted but messy young woman who spends more time talking to the fire in the stove and the brooms in the cupboard than watching where she walks.
> 
> But their aunt is not the only one inhabiting the dark halls of their new home. Lights float around after dark, a large grumpy cat sits on the garden wall, and a cursed king sits in the attic.
> 
> The sisters must learn to tread carefully and keep their wits about them if they are to learn their aunt's trade; Magic."
> 
> If you like what I've posted here I hope you'll take a look and leave a comment :D or, if you don't have a dA account, a PM on here telling me what you think :D My dA accname is xStonehill
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope to hear your opinion on the story so far!


	3. The Labyrinth Part 1: Sirens

The sound of the whirlpool was deafening, its drag on the water becoming stronger with every passing second.

Kougyoku took a deep breath, tried to take a step back from the whirlpool and found that she was frozen in fear. Her eyes focused on the rush of water. She couldn't look away.

She was going to die here, like everyone else. She wasn't any different from the rest. Another thief. Despicably weak.

But she didn't want to die here. She didn't want all those people to keep wishing the death of others. She wanted to clear the dungeon, make it vanish. It had corrupted the people around her and she wanted it -gone-.

Something golden fluttered past her and she blinked. With it, her eyes moved from the whirlpool and she found herself able to move. With all the willpower she could muster, she turned her back on the monster and started moving against the current.

The shore seemed impossibly far away, and with every step she took the monster at the bottom grew increasingly more determined to get her. Her muscles protested, but she couldn't stop here.

She reached the shore and immediately fell to her knees, her hands digging into the sand, gasping for air.

Because she didn't trust that she was safe yet she turned to look around at the pool once more. For the first time she had the time to look around. The walls were a dark grey, like the inside of a mountain, but it looked like their rougher edges had been smoothed out by waves. Everywhere, mollusks protruded from the walls and the whole thing looked like it should be underwater.

Just as she was regaining her breath Kougyoku felt a sense of dread settle in her gut. She scrambled to her feet, gripping her sword, and started backing away from the pool once more. Something was moving closer beneath the surface. She could sense it's killing intent.

Her eyes travelled the wall and she found what she'd been looking for; a hallway leading away from here. It was dark, but she didn't care.

She hurried towards it, sprinting with all her might.

There was a splash of water behind her and something grabbed her leg, dragging her to the cave floor and then across it towards the pool.

Kougyoku almost gave into the urge to let go of the sword in favor of scrabbling at the floor, but she managed to push down her panicky fear. She twisted, ignoring the pain in her every limb and cut the large vine which had settled around her ankle. It returned to water immediately and she was free to scramble to her feet and back towards the dark hall, heart pounding in her chest.

How long could it reach?

Would it keep coming after her?

Did she even have a chance of leaving here?

But she reached the hall, plunged into its darkness and the monster at the bottom of the pool did not follow.

* * *

Kougyoku slowed to another halt when she'd become sure there was nothing after her anymore. She'd slammed into the wall twice and had lost almost all sense of direction in the darkness.

She had to calm down; she knew that. Otherwise she would risk going in circles. And she didn't know how long she'd have to stay in here so she had to think of how much energy she wasted too.

Her sword she slid into her sash, careful not to cut the cloth.

It wasn't the safest thing to do with it but her arm was aching from the strain of carrying it, and she needed to put it more practical

She slid down the wall and sat there, covering her eyes, trying to calm her galloping heart. She'd gotten past the first danger, but how would she do against the ones to come?

She was relatively comfortable with using a sword, and she knew she had the brains to deal with a good deal of puzzles, but she was small and not physically powerful. Would she be able to do this?

Kougyoku slapped both hands to her cheeks. The burn forced her thoughts out of their vicious circle and she rose with determination. She didn't have any other choice, after all.

She didn't want to die in a place like this. She didn't want for things to continue the way they did in Tailin.

Keeping a hand on the wall and an iron grip on her reason for being where she was, Kougyoku started down the hall. She was determined to pass this darkness.

* * *

Song reached her ears before light did and it urged her to continue, though she thought to be careful. The song was beautiful, sung in a language she couldn't understand, but there was something wrong with it... It scratched at her ears and made her feel uncomfortable. Her chest hurt and she disliked the sound with her whole being.

Still, there was nowhere else to go but to move towards the sound and so she did.

When she turned a corner and caught the end of the tunnel up ahead, she tested that the sword hung loosely enough in her sash to pull quickly free.

Kougyoku continued on, walking in a slow manner that enabled her to move soundlessly.

The sound of the song diminished suddenly so it was only one or two voices clearly singing now and the sound of male laughter echoed in the cavern, booming towards her.

The voice felt vaguely familiar and reminded her of sunlight, but Kougyoku couldn't place it and frankly thought she had better things to do. If a man had made it past the whirlpool good for him, though with the sound of his laughter she thought it was likely the dungeon had driven him mad instead. One had to be barking to laugh in a place like this.

She stopped at the exit, staying in the shadow and glanced out into the open space ahead of her.

The first thing her eyes caught on was the sky. It took her breath away. It was so different from the sky she knew. Planets with rings and moons of bright colour floated around in wide arcs. She saw collections of stars in black whirlpools of their own, and meteor rain. But then her eyes caught on a part of the sky that looked like shattered glass and she realised they were still inside. It was just another part of the dungeon meant to mess with them.

Ahead of her was an azure lake, which sparkled as beautiful as the sea. The ground was covered with sand and lush green plants were to be found everywhere. There were flowers there too, flowers like she'd never seen before, in brilliant colours so beautiful she'd replace jewels with them any day.

The beauty here would have been untainted had it not been for the beings occupying it. In the pool swam several very beautiful women, with tails like fish. They were all singing that horrible song, yet even more sat on a cliff, which created a platform on top of the lake. -they- weren't singing, but speaking with a man, who seemed completely engrossed by the conversation. It was the man who had laughed before.

Kougyoku had heard of creatures like these from the sailors of Reim. Sirens. Beautiful women of the sea whose song could entrance any fisherman. But they were not friendly. They lived of the flesh of man and they sought to drive boats into the cliffs so they'd shatter and sink.

Kougyoku had never been so relieved to be a woman as she was in that moment.

She looked away from the lake, searching for the path that would lead her on.

It was far off to her left that she noticed a curve in the cliff and a path leading into a wood of blue leaves. It'd give her little visibility ahead but it was the only thing she could see, which would lead ahead.

Kougyoku checked the terrain just ahead of her again. She'd have to be careful or she'd be spotted. She didn't want a direct confrontation with the sirens, knowing how dangerous they'd be - especially if the man meddled. If he'd gotten this far, he could only be a dangerous opponent - or plain lucky, but it didn't feel like that was the case.

The bushes, plants, and cliffs should give her plenty of cover if she planned her way through, and remained completely silent. She took her time pulling out the bun on top of her head and plaited it instead. There was no need to force herself to crouch lower than she had to while hiding and worrying over the bun might take away some of her focus.

She bowed to take her still wet shoes off, leaving them on the cave floor. The path she had to move along would take her dangerously close to the lake, but it was there the plantation was thickest, so she had no other choice.

Slowly, but surely, she started along the path, keeping her head low, almost crawling to stay behind something. More than once, she had to dart across a place where she had no other choice but to be seen, but she timed these places, checking that the monsters in the lake were turned away.

Eventually she got to the thicket which ran parallel with the lake. She took a moment to collect herself and relax her shoulders. She was safe for the moment.

Now that she'd gotten this far her mind cleared a little and she could hear what they were talking about.

"- in spite of all that," the man was saying, "you're clearly the most beautiful creatures I've ever come across in a dungeon."

The sirens giggled.

"Hey, Sin, did you know?" One spoke up. "That if you kiss one of us that'd surely make you able to breath under water."

"We'd even help you test it afterwards."

"Is that so? That would certainly be useful, but would you really give that to me so freely?"

"Of course," they all agreed eagerly.

When he next spoke up he almost sounded regretful. "On the other hand I'd have to choose which one of you ladies I should have to kiss and it would break my heart to ..."

Kougyoku blocked out the conversation. This man had been in more than one dungeon and they'd called him 'Sin'. As in Sinbad the Sailor? The king of Sindria?

Was he here to conquer another dungeon then? Had she come here in vain?

Kougyoku shook her head. She obviously hadn't. But the question was now whether or not she should save him... Could she? Without him taking the sirens's side in the fight? He'd be too dangerous an opponent then.

But she couldn't just leave him either...

"So tell me, ladies," his voice spoke up again, breaking her concentration. It had become almost businesslike. "What would I have to do to move on from here?"

There was a collective protest from the sirens. "You're leaving us when we were having so much fun?"

For the briefest of moments Kougyoku thought they were the ones under his spell, but that was preposterous. "No, I'd never want to leave such beautiful women all by themselves."

Yeah, that was more like it, she thought.

They bantered back and forth for a while, but finally he got his answer. "When you pass the blue forest down there," a siren spoke up finally. "You will reach a lake and on the opposite side of that lake is a giant door, but do not go through the door for it will lead to your instant demise."

"Jump into the lake instead and do not be alarmed by its vastness for you should be able to breathe down there," another continued.

"That's all we know," a third said. "He does not like it when his creatures know too much."

"Vinea?"

"Yes."

Kougyoku took that moment to look around the nearest bush to get another look at the platform, hoping they were so engrossed in their conversation they would not notice her.

"I suppose he's too afraid of you telling me the right way," he said, his voice lowering in a playful growl and reached for the sirens at the same time. They squealed in delight and jumped into the lake, avoiding his attack.

As the sirens dived under the surf the man's eyes travelled along the plantation. Their amber debts settled on Kougyoku, who quickly retracted her head from around the bush. Her heart hammered in her chest. She'd never seen such a look in anyone's eyes before. They were cold and calculative, waiting.

He wasn't enchanted at all.

He'd merely been waiting for them to open their mouths and speak, tell him all he needed to know.

How was that even possible? Could a man really ignore the song of a siren even if he could hear-

Something occurred to her suddenly. She'd seen him before! She'd spoken with him! He'd bought lychee in the market!

Should she save him? Obviously he didn't need her help and if he really was Sinbad the Sailor he wouldn't want it. Or so she assumed…

She certainly didn't need to stay here any longer.

Kougyoku checked the lake again, and saw that the sirens were hoisting themselves onto the shore on the other side of the lake, their backs to her. Even the ones who still sang that awful song were turned away.

This was her chance.

She took several steps out from her hiding place, ducked under the next group of bushes and hurried towards the blue forest.

There was a whistling sound behind her and something stuck in her shoulder, causing a small explosion of plain that made her cry out.

A siren materialized out of the earth in front of Kougyoku and she skidded to a halt, tried to go around, but was stopped by another one. They no longer wore the bodies of fish and instead carried themselves on human legs.

"Uh-uh," one sang. "Little girlies shouldn't be running around like that."

An arm slid over Kougyoku's shoulders and she felt the cold slimy texture of their skin, like the scale of fish. It made her shiver.

"It's not good for your health," the one holding her said, smiling down at her with entrancing green eyes. "Maybe you could come join us instead, princess? The water will do you good."

But some of them were still singing, and that hand on her neck was freezing her insides. It made her cold with that same feeling of dislike and bloodlust she'd felt earlier. Because of that, the siren's alluring green eyes had no effect on Kougyoku.

Her hand moved to her sword and she gripped the handle as the siren on her shoulder said "come, love, join us. I see it in your eyes, the hatred. Let us guide it and give it a new outle-"

The siren let out a scream of pain and rage.

In one swift motion Kougyoku had pulled out her sword and cut off her arm, by the shoulder. Kougyoku twisted and ran the sword through her chest. Like the monster at the bottom of the whirlpool she turned to water. Kougyoku felt its splatter on her arms and legs.

A smile she could not contain spread across her lips and she swung her sword at the next siren.

It hadn't even turned to water before she hit the next, and the next. They were so easy to kill.

A strong arm snuck around her middle and a large, warm hand settled on her wrist, blocking her movements.

It didn't deter her in the least. She elbowed her assailant in the stomach, but hit only air. The arm loosened around her middle and she twisted out of his grip, only to be pulled around by the wrist. Kougyoku gave a scream as the ground came rushing up to meet her, but with another tug on her arm, he swung her into the nearest bush.

"I had a feeling you were dangerous," Sinbad said.

Kougyoku crawled out of the bush and turned to look up at him. He was holding her sword.

Before she could say anything, however, he'd hoisted her to her feet, and started steering her towards the blue forest.

"Wha -"

She twisted in his grip, trying to look past him and back at the lake. "What about -"

"They can't reach where we are now so they won't try," were his only words before they plunged into the shadow of the forest.

* * *

After having checked they were properly alone in the strange forest, Sinbad made her sit down. He handed her a flask of water and a package folded in cloth. "How's your shoulder?"

Kougyoku had become aware that her shoulder was throbbing with pain, after they'd gotten out of danger, but she hadn't dared focus too much on it. She opened her mouth to answer but instead of answering him she gave a strangled cry. He'd pulled out whatever had been stuck in her shoulder and it had  _hurt_. Tears sprung to her eyes and she tried not to sob.

"Calm down," he said. The way he said it made it sound like he was giving her practical instructions. "At least it isn't poisoned."

On the last word he tore at the neck of her dress.

Kougyoku gave a squeak and tried to scramble away from him, but one of his hands clamped down on her good shoulder. "Stay, I'm just going to clean this."

His voice was soft now, as if he was speaking to a frightened animal, and she guessed she was. It worked well, either way for she relaxed her shoulders and sat back down.

"Good girl."

He peeled away her ripped dress, and she realised that it'd been stuck to her shoulder. Was she bleeding a lot? Nausea rose in her, and she closed her eyes hard. She had to focus on something else.

"Those… were sirens, weren't they?"

"Yes -" there was another ripping sound, but she couldn't feel it, meaning it must have come from his own clothes -"it's quite unusual to see such creatures in the dungeons, though I'm assuming this is another water djinn and that's why…"

He trailed off, only to add "Please hand me the water."

She did as she was asked. A moment later she felt a cold damp cloth touch her shoulder. She stiffened, her back straightening at the contact, but as he gently washed away the blood she relaxed. "How come you weren't influenced by their song?"

Sinbad laughed at that. "What they do is a spell like any other," he said. "I simply manipulated the magoi so it protected against such manipulation."

"Magoi?"

"Do you know what the rukh is?"

Kougyoku nodded. "It's the home of souls and the source of all magi- Oh."

He chuckled.

When he'd finished cleaning her wound he asked her to pull strips off her skirt for bandaging. Once she'd done that he bandaged her shoulder and chest. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but they worked together and that saved her some of her modesty.

"What are you doing here, Kougyoku?" he asked as she turned to lean against the wall, her head falling back, eyes closing for the moment.

"Remember the man I was arguing with when we first met?" she cracked an eye open to look at him. "He… accused me of stealing and … dragged me off to be punished."

Sinbad's eyes turned kind with understanding. "I see. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," she said, narrowing her eyes at the trees. The leaves, she could see now, were made of blue crystal. It was beautiful, but unnatural. "I'm going to clear this Dungeon and with it the corruption of Tailin."

"Is that why you've gotten so far?"

Sinbad grabbed the package from her lap, unfolded the cloth and revealed cheese and bread. Kougyoku suddenly realised how hungry she was. "Yes. That's all."

"And the vessel of power you receive if you conquer it?"

She shook her head and took the bread he offered. "Thank you. I don't know. I've never been in a position of power and I've never wanted it."

Sinbad hummed thoughtfully, and she dared ask something she'd been meaning to ask him for a while. "Are you really Sinbad the Sailor, king of Sindria?"

"That I am."

"How many dungeons have you conquered?"

He grinned. "Plenty."

"How many do you plan on conquering?"

"As many as I can."

"Why?"

He turned and met her gaze with eyes that held a darkness she'd never seen before. A chill ran down her spine and an instinct to run away shook her mind, but she stayed frozen in place. "Because I want power. Power enough to change the world."

 


	4. The Labyrinth Part 2: Ocean, Desert, and Treasury

Sinbad twisted the heavy Kou sword in his hands. It was straight, double edged and sharp. There was nothing elegant about it, but it was an excellent sword. Obviously a soldier's.

He wondered briefly where she'd gotten it from though considering it had no scabbard, he thought it couldn't be hers.

He put it down to his left, at a safe distance from the both of them, and turned to his right to consider the girl, who had come along quite conveniently. She'd fallen asleep against the wall not too far from him, sleeping fretfully. Not that he was really surprised, she'd had a bad day as far as he could tell, but she would be useful for the rest of the journey through the dungeon - even more so if she'd had some semblance of rest.

She'd shown more interesting sides today. Her ruthlessness he'd seen a glimpse of already, in the market, but now he had seen it in action. Such bloodlust did not exist in the common person's blood, nor did it seem to fit into the culture that she knew how to swing a sword.

Other than that it intrigued him why she'd stepped into the dungeon today and why she had survived for so long. The rukh had obviously guided her to this extent...

She did not seem to want the power of the dungeon at all, though considering she wanted to save her city from corruption showed a larger mind than most, something the djinn might like. Depending on what personality it had.

He'd have to make a deal with her.

Other than that she could become a valuable ally, he thought.

Kougyoku shifted and naturally seeking his body heat she leant into his side. Immediately the crease in her forehead seized and her body relaxed. Sinbad allowed it with a victorious smile. If she trusted him this much it'd be easy to convince her to follow him.

He already knew she craved the company he offered. He'd quickly seen that she was isolated in the thriving city of Tailin. Her family did not like her, for whatever reason, and she had been quiet and suspicious, something obviously not in her nature...

"Miss," he said, when she had awoken and they were making their way through the crystallized forest. "What do you say we work as allies from now on?"

Kougyoku looked up at him in surprise. "I - I thought we already were, Lord Sinbad…"

She would, wouldn't she? She'd trusted him enough to sleep beside him in spite of the fact that he could have easily dropped her into a tub of man eating piranhas once she let her guard down. "Well, you seemed to want to abandon me with the sirens back in the second chamber, so I thought I'd make sure."

Her face paled and she halted to bow deeply. "I'm truly sorry about that, Lord, bu-but I -" she hesitated and glanced up to meet his gaze.

Sinbad smiled his gentle smile and bowed forwards a little so they'd have been eye-level if she straightened. "You…?"

Her face flushed. "I - I saw something in your expression and thought you might not have been as under their control as they thought - a-and I was right, wasn't I?" she gave a short nervous laugh.

So she had seen that? He'd have to be more guarded if he wanted her to keep trusting him as completely as she did. Especially since she seemed useful - and might be if she gave up on her right to be chosen as king vessel. "You were," he said.

Kougyoku frowned at him, just slightly. "I thought you wouldn't need me," she said quietly, and rose unconsciously. Her expression darkened. "And I … I didn't want to hurt anyone, but I did and I - enjoyed it."

Her voice trembled.

Sinbad put a hand on top of her head. She closed her eyes and bowed her head a little at the gesture meant for comfort. She looked like she was going to cry. "That is not as uncommon as you might think," he said. "And it does not make you a bad person. On the contrary, it should be easy for you survive this dungeon with such a trait."

The Kou girl gave a small whimper and nodded, trusting his word; a lie he had no problem telling. It could make her a very dangerous person if the bloodlust consumed her, but it was only just showing and so she had time to learn to control it.

Kougyoku dried her eyes and smiled so sunnily at him a better man would have done a double-take at how much it lit up her already pretty face. "Thank you, lord."

"Come on," he said. "I sense a change in the waves not too far ahead."

* * *

The lake wasn't more than a few feet wide and looked more like a puddle, mirroring the artificial sky above them. What really caught the attention of them both, was the large golden door with the eight-pointed Star of Solomon.

Sinbad placed his hand on the door. He could feel no malice from the other side. "I see why this might be deceptive," he admitted.

Kougyoku nodded her agreement. "I can't see the bottom," she said, her eyes on the lake. "Do you think they were telling the truth?"

"Yes."

He joined her at the edge, noting her already bare feet. It'd certainly be easier to swim without the shoes, he thought. "You know how to swim right?"

For the first time Kougyoku shot him a dirty look. "I grew up in Tailin, by the great sea. Of course I know how to swim, Lord. The question is -" and now there was a light of challenge in her eyes that he had to admit he liked quite well, "- do you know how to swim, Lord Sinbad?"

Something ferocious, an excitement he hadn't felt in years, rushed through him, and he grinned. "Kougyoku, I was born a fisherman, I will always be one at heart," he said. "Of course, I can swim."

The girl flushed, but before she could get any words out, he'd grabbed her around the waist and pulled them both under the surf of the water.

It was as if weights had been attached to their feet for they were being dragged through the water, which tasted faintly of salty ocean, (and down towards the bottom until all they could see of the surface was a faint light. The sirens had been right, however, and they  _could_ breathe under water.

Sinbad let go of Kougyoku's slim waist only long enough to get a hold on her hand. She gave him a funny look at that. "It's so we don't get separated," he tried to say, but found there was no sound other than the words in his head.

They seemed to have come across. She looked confused for only another moment and then nodded.

Their descent slowed and Sinbad took his time looking around. The darkness was thick but they could at least see rather far ahead. Beneath them was a reef of all colours, and plenty of fish to feed on it.

Kougyoku's grip slackened in his hand when she saw it and she gave a small cooing sound of adoration, which echoed in his mind. Sinbad tightened his hold on her hand and when she looked at him pleadingly he shook his head.

"Never trust anything living in a dungeon except the djinn, and only when you've reached his treasury."

Kougyoku nodded again, but her face had fallen.

Sinbad left her to her disappointment to look around once more. The problem with dungeons was that there were usually plenty of roads to choose from. The problem with this one was that now there weren't just numerous roads, there were none. The seas had no streets, tracks, or roads, no landmarks to tell you when you were on the right path. Only the stars and the direction of the sun helped you then.

Kougyoku tugged at his hand and pointed downwards again, but away from the reef. He squinted at what she was pointing at, but could not tell.

Giving a shrug, Kougyoko pulled her hand from his grip and dove down to the bottom. She was obviously used to the water and familiar with diving. When she came back she'd brought mollusks with her. "We used to dive for these when we were kids," she explained. "The dungeon of Vinea brought them with it in plenty and it's become one of the reasons why our economy is doing so well. They're forming a line down there. Like a road."

That worked. "Lead the way," he said.

Kougyoku turned in the water and hurried down towards the bottom again. Sinbad followed behind and soon saw what she meant.

Along the bottom of this strange dungeon sea was a long line of purple mollusks, which shone faintly in the glum darkness of the water. They formed a path in only one direction.

He was glad she had come along; he might have thought of this at some point, but he'd still have had to wreck his brain for a while, and now he could turn his thoughts and concentration to other things.

Something shifted in the waves of the rukh just then, creating the same sensation he felt whenever a rampaging unicorn was near.

A shadow passed over them and Sinbad swam closer to Kougyoku. When he was close enough, he grabbed her arm and dragged her into a cave just as the large monster swam past them.

"Wha-?"

Kougyoku gave a surprised scream as a large yellow eye to watch them through the mouth of the cave. It was surrounded by dark green scales and filled most of the hole.

"It's okay," Sinbad said. "It won't be able to get through here."

"How will we defend against that thing?"

"We won't. We'll find a detour," he said, pointing over his shoulder at the shadow of the cave. He probably could deal with it, using Valefor, but he didn't want to have to. There was no need to remind Vinea that he already had a good deal of Djinns.

But they didn't get any farther into the cave. In that moment, the rampaging unicorn crashed its tail into the wall, protecting them so the ground shook and rubble cascaded over them.

Kougyoku and Sinbad both whirled towards the entrance to see that the eye had vanished. They knew the monster was trying to get to them, and that if they fled outside it would simply pick them up and eat them one at a time. Already, holes were appearing in the ceiling above them so they turned to the darkness of the grotto, knowing it was their only route to safety.

Sinbad urged Kougyoku ahead, hurrying further into the cave. It was the safest way to go. Unfortunately they never got to safety, as a part of the cave crashed to the floor, blocking their exit.

Another part of the wall came crashing down just over Kougyoku and Sinbad reached out to drag her out of harm's way, only just making it in time. He'd pulled her with such force the younger girl fell into him so Sinbad was propelled through the water, barely avoiding the assault of a rock himself.

Soft fingers ran over his collar bones as she reached up to grip his shoulders and stare at him imploringly. "Do something, please," she begged. "You've cleared so many dungeons already, Lord Sinbad. You must be able to do something!"

Well, he thought, feeling a grin spread across his face unbidden. It had been a while since he'd let loose. "Okay," he said, his arm tightening around her small frame, "but stay close. It might get a bit chilly."

"I'm sure -"

Her reply was drowned out by the rush of water as Sinbad pushed through a hole in the wall, dangerously close past the swishing tail of the rampaging unicorn and into open water.

Sinbad tapped his golden necklace once, gathered his magoi and spoke the spell to equip Valefor;

"O Djinn of falsehood and prestige, I command thee and thy Household to feed on my Magoi and empower my will with your great ability! Come forth, Valefor!"

Kougyoku gave a small gasp of surprise as light attached itself to Sinbad. When the golden rukh had dispersed once more Sinbad was in full Djinn equip, his hair white, his armour as well, though there were plenty of jewels adorning this one. Valefor did like to show off after all. In his hand he held a long sword made of ice. As it moved through the water the blade froze the ocean.

"You - you could have w-warned me - it'd get this cold," Kougyoku stammered, her teeth clattering. "Wouldn't it - it be better if - I -"

"Nope," he said, laughter in his voice again. "This is a wide ranging attack, so it'd freeze you to death if you weren't this close to me."

Before she could reply, he'd lifted his sword and started chanting again. The familiar golden star shone around them and finally the rampaging unicorn took notice of them.

"Spirit of falsehood and prestige… thou who controls the power to make kings, bring forth the great blizzard that judges the earth!"

As the beast came thundering towards him Sinbad swung his sword once, sending a mass of ice and snow at the beast. It cut the monster in half, freezing the parts into massive blocks of cold ice. It hadn't even had time to bleed.

Kougyoku's feet shakily touched the ground, and she clung to Sinbad's now warm hand for just a moment longer than necessary to steady herself.

"Wha-" she started, looking up at him, "what was that?"

It had been incredible, terrifying and freezing cold, colder than anything she'd ever felt in her life. Yet none of that cold remained now.

Sinbad was smiling his usual smile and looking as friendly as ever. Even so, Kougyoku thought, 'he was that dangerous?' A part of her shook with fear over the ease with which he'd cut the monster in half and she understood now why he had been so relaxed when it had attacked.

And then there was also a part of her that thought he was truly amazing.

"It's an extreme magic that can only be used during full body djinn equip," he explained. He had to admit the way she looked at him now made him so pleased with himself, Jafar would have most likely hit him. Her eyes were big and starry and he swore he could see a wagging tail. If only his Eight Generals still looked at him with such innocent admiration. "It can be useful, but is also dangerous and taxes my supply of magoi greatly."

"You look fine to me."

He couldn't help but say "that's because my supply of magoi is rather big."

"So you could do it again?" She asked excitedly.

"Definitely."

"With how many Djinns?"

He considered this. He'd never needed to use all of them in one battle. Maybe he should try it once, just to know. "I've never run out of magoi before, except..."

She looked up at him curiously. "Except?"

Sinbad's expression darkened and he said no more. His mind was far away.

Except, he thought, that time in Sindria, three years ago when Al-Tharmen destroyed most of his kingdom, while he had been powerless to stop them, exactly because he'd run out of magoi.

"Come on," he said, using a hand on her shoulder to direct her towards the mollusks once more. "We should get moving before another one of those show up."

Kougyoku's big expressive eyes bored into his and he knew she was worried.

She was not convinced by the smile he sent her then as he asked her to get a move on. This man had been through some kind of hell, yet he had come out a good person. That made him someone she could look up to, and maybe even follow, without worrying.

Finally, she turned away, but Sinbad had seen the smile gracing her lips before she'd done so. She'd made some kind of decision, he knew. What he hadn't seen were the red cheeks that had come as a reaction to her last thought; she wanted to care about him.

* * *

They met nothing too dangerous after that.

There were plenty of minor beasts to dispose of, as there always was, but considering none of them were bad in a sword fight, Sinbad wasn't too worried.

The track of mollusks moved up and up and up, all the way through the tower and when they finally reached the surface once more, it was to a desert. An artificial sun beat down on them from above with such strength that Kougyoku felt her mouth dry out before they'd gotten fully out of the water.

"There's nothing here," Kougyoku observed in wonder as Sinbad helped her out of the water and to her feet. Their clothes were drying at incredible speed and behind them the lake suddenly evaporated.

Kougyoku felt a lurch in her stomach as their escape route from the heat vanished, but before she could start to panic, a door materialised where the entrance to the ocean had been. "Not exactly nothing," Sinbad said and made a motion with his hand towards the door. "We're finally at the entrance to the treasury. Would you like the honours?"

The smile he gifted her with was warmer than the sun. Kougyoku blushed but she still returned the smile. "Yes."

She'd made it! She was going to remove this source of corruption once and for all, and save her citizens from their rotten ways of thought. And then maybe she'd be free to go where she wanted.

Her hand touched the cool golden door and she pushed.

The door swung open with a flourish.

Wind and light and cool air rushed out to meet them, almost pushing Kougyoku to the ground. Sinbad put a hand on her lower back to steady her and she turned to smile gratefully up at him, only to find that his expression had become grave.

When she looked back around they were no longer standing in front of a gate; it had vanished again. With it the desert had gone as well and been replaced with thousands of lotus ponds filled with colourful fish. Between the ponds were small paths off white cobble and above them, instead of the sky and the sun shining down on them, was the bottom of an ocean so they could see fish and turtles and a rampaging unicorn swim lazily around.

It was beautiful.

Ahead of them was an almost straight path to a raised platform on which stood a large golden egg.

Sinbad and Kougyoku exchanged a look and then hurried forwards. When they reached the top of the platform Kougyoku saw that it was much larger than she'd first assumed and that it was littered with treasures. Only the treasures were not of jade, gold or silver, but of stone.

As Sinbad went to the golden egg Kougyoku curiously picked up one of the artefacts. "Is it like this in every dungeon?"

"Pretty much," came the reply. "We're not sure why, though."

Kougyoku put back the stone artefact and hurried over to his side. They touched the golden egg together.

On the egg, a golden star shone brightly and a massive whirlpool of water sprayed from it, making Kougyoku step back in fright and surprise, lifting an arm to shield her face.

Her heart was pounding in her ears. This was it.

When she looked again, the egg and water had vanished. In its place was an enormous blue dragon, crowned with jewels.

"I am Vinea," it said, its deep voice echoing through the treasury. "The djinn of Sorrow and Isolation.

"Who will become king?"


	5. End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that's that. As the end says; the end.  
> If I'm completely honest with myself I don't ship these two anymore. Or maybe I would, if he hadn't been possessed by you-know-who....  
> But I figured it was about time I updated this thing on AO3 so it's at least finished (I mean it's been finished on FFnet for ages, but y'know).  
> I'm super happy with Kougyoku's character development in the manga tho! She's become super amazing IMO!
> 
> ANYWAY! Thank you for reading this little adventure, ship or not I really enjoyed writing it. I hope you, dear reader, enjoyed reading it as well!

Kougyoku stared up at the enormous blue djinn that had appeared before them. It had a wolfish face with long flowing whiskers and, a long snake-like body, with a line of fur going down over its back and four legs. It was just like the dragons of legend.

The dragon's shrewd eyes watched them, waiting for an answer.

Kougyoku looked at Sinbad, but he was watching the dragon. She did not need the power and if Sinbad took it, the dungeon would vanish anyway. She took a step back just as Sinbad took a step forwards.

"Honourable Djinn, who chooses kings," he began. "I -"

The dragon's eyes zeroed in on Sinbad and it clicked its tongue in obvious disapproval, which was all it took to freeze the king in his tracks. "I don't like you," it said, indignant. "You're dismissed."

"Eh?"

Somehow Kougyoku had a feeling this was the first time someone had told him that.

"I - " Sinbad hesitated. "Excuse me - what?"

The djinn snorted, its disapproval obviously growing. "Don't you know anything about dragons, peasant? We like people of royal blood, our own blood. Regular people should go to the other, more tolerant djinns if they want to be king vessel."

It suddenly diminished to a much smaller form and flew down towards them. To the surprise of both, it attached itself around Kougyoku's neck and stretched its neck to stare balefully at the fisherman. "Other than that, you are a two-timing playboy. Amon and Leraje aren't the only Djinns who prefer someone more faithful, more honourable."

Kougyoku and Sinbad stared at the dragon in shock. It had rejected him. It had called him a two-timing playboy. It had said he had no honour.

"But -" Kougyoku protested "- but he's a king! He rules a country, a federation. That should fit your criteria, right?"

When the dragon shook its head at her, sighing deeply as if there was something she hadn't understood, she continued, now afraid. "You're not going to let us wait until someone else comes along, are you?"

"No. Silly girl."

"Then…" she trailed off. "But there's … no one else here…"

"Of course there is, Kougyoku," Sinbad said. He was smiling patiently at her and looked for all the world like he had understood something. "He's chosen you."

"Me?" She looked from him to the djinn, who nodded. "But I'm not of royal blood. I don't hold the dragon's blood in my veins. I'm the daughter of a whore and her customer, just another person belonging to the masses of poor."

The djinn sighed again and she looked helplessly at Sinbad, but his expression had darkened. "Wha -"

The king shook his head and his easy smile returned. "Is that what they told you? Why am I not surprised?" he said. "Why do you think you've been taught to use a sword, Kougyoku?"

She hesitated. "Be-because my … my uncle wanted to make sure I could defend myself so he was certain no man would touch me before my wedding night. So he could get a large dowry for me…" her voice grew more and more quiet as she spoke and at the end she was looking at the floor, feeling ashamed. It was embarrassing to think about.

"Because you're beautiful," Sinbad said. It wasn't a compliment but a statement. "Because you have hair and eyes of red jade. Because your name begins with 'Kou'."

Suddenly desperate to keep out his words she slapped her hands to her ears. "No! Stop! I don't want to hear this! I'm no one special!" She shook her head violently and Vinea clung to her neck with such force she gasped. Tears leaked from her eyes and she fell to her knees instead. "I'm just the daughter of a whore," she whispered.

"Silly girl," the dragon said again. It poked her forehead with its tail and its words entered her mind. Let me show you if you don't want to believe the words of the man you so admire.

Pictures entered her mind from out of nowhere. She saw the inside of the Kou court for the first time, saw the emperor, and the imperial children. She saw a fire and the grin of a woman hidden in a veil of black, she saw a woman fleeing the palace on horseback, vanishing into the night, the army dispatched to search for her. There were screams of pain and misery, replaced by those of a baby with hair like red jade being born in a small hut with the help of a man with blonde hair all covered in green.

The woman fled to the sea, to a home she recognized very well. She was welcomed with tears and wonder. She exchanged her child for another child with black hair at the acceptance of a man and the protests of a woman.

She saw the army finding the woman, weak and starved on a road far from the sea. They murdered her on the spot and took the boy. The visions ended abruptly and Kougyoku opened her eyes, blinking to make them focus on the treasury once more. "Wha…? What was that?" she asked.

Sinbad knelt beside her, looking concerned. "What did you show her, Vinea?" he asked the dragon.

"Her mother's last days," it replied. "The boy came here last year. He did not make it far."

Kougyoku rubbed her eyes. Tears had leaked unbidden. "So… it's true…"

"It is very true," Vinea said. "You are no daughter of a whore. If anything you are the lost child of Ren Koutoku, the Eight Imperial Princess of the Kou Empire, Ren Kougyoku."

Kougyoku's mind went blank. She couldn't comprehend this! She was the daughter of an emperor? She had siblings somewhere?

The image of the black witch returned and she shook her head. She'd never wanted that. She'd just wanted to be accepted by someone, to be asked for help and to be helped in return. She just wanted someone to smile at her, genuinely happy to see her.

"So your decision has been made?" Sinbad asked.

"Of course," Vinea replied, sounding insulted again. "You've felt it too, haven't you, first class anomaly? The potential of this child. Train her well."

Sinbad nodded and grinned at the dragon. Without a warning he placed a large palm on top of Kougyoku's head and ruffled her hair mercilessly. "Don't worry. I can't exactly let such an important asset slip through my fingers."

"Aaaah, stop, Lord Sinbad!" Kougyoku exclaimed in surprise and embarrassment. She battered his hand away and took several steps backwards to avoid his hand. Her foot hit the edge of the platform and she hung in mid-air for what seemed an eternity.

Before she could fall into the pond below, Sinbad had grabbed her hand and pulled her back to safety. Her nose buried in his chest and she clung to his robes, heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"Well," Vinea snickered, slithering from her shoulder and onto Sinbad's. "At least your children will have proper royal blood."

As Kougyoku scrambled away from the laughing king Vinea returned to his normal, massive, size. "I'm sending you two back now," he announced. "You won't have a chance to save the gold or knowledge from my treasury, but then, you don't need it. And I assume you don't want it to fall into the hands of the Kou Empire?"

"Thank you," Sinbad said.

The dragon nodded. "And Kougyoku? Find a proper metal vessel. You don't carry anything with you that's important to you and the sword will only do for keeping me somewhere."

A column of white light engulfed Kougyoku and Sinbad and the treasury vanished beneath them.

Kougyoku opened her eyes to the sharp sun above her and stone all around her. She was sitting in a massive hole in the ground.

Looking around herself she tried to locate Sinbad but he was nowhere to be found. Had he not made it back? Had something happened to him? Or had he simply not arrived yet?

A shadow passed before the sun and she looked up in surprise; there had been no cloud in the sky when she'd looked up last.

Had she not just spent a day or two in the dungeon she might have been even more flabbergasted to see an enormous carpet levitating above her, slowly lowering itself into the hole. She quickly saw that it was filled with at least two dozen of the imperial family's bodyguard.

Kougyoku scrambled to kneel before the people stepping off the carpet. She placed her palms flat on the ground so her hands formed a triangle and touched her forehead to the ground as well.

Boots moved across the stone, one pair, and she heard a deep emotionless voice say "peculiar. There's nothing here. You. Rise!"

She did as she was told immediately, but kept her eyes on the ground. Her bare feet had never seemed so interesting.

"Look me in the eyes as you explain why there is no treasure in this hole," he said. "Quickly, now, before I decide it isn't worth my time."

Kougyoku swallowed thickly and lifted her head. In front of her stood a man whose entire appearance screamed king in a way she had never experienced before. He was broad, well-built and taller even than Sinbad. His hair, pointy beard and eyes were of red jade. There was no warmth in his expression.

"V-V-Vinea sa-said it-it wasn't ne-necessary to - to bring it back, dianxia," she stuttered. She wanted to look down so badly, to hide her face, but he would not allow her to.

Something dangerous mingled with his impassive mask and Kougyoku felt an incredible urge to flee. He gave her one order. "Come." He turned and started back towards the flying carpet where his bodyguards were waiting.

Kougyoku had no choice but to do as he commanded. Would he kill her?

On trembling legs she followed the man, who could be none other than Ren Kouen, the First Imperial Prince of the Kou Empire.

Kougyoku lay in the softest bed she'd ever slept in.

Except she couldn't sleep. It was too soft; she'd been sleeping on a dirty rug for most of the summer and she had too much on her mind to fall asleep.

Kouen had brought her to the keep where the regent lived. Here, he'd handed her over to the staff, who had washed and scrubbed her until every speck of dirt had been cleaned off her body. Then they'd brushed her hair and put it up in the traditional bun of the imperial family, though they'd only bound it with a string, instead of adding the golden circlet and pin that usually helped contain the hair.

Afterwards she'd been clothed in the finest silk she'd ever seen and then been brought before her brother.

The first thing Entei had done was heal her wounds and check if she still had her sword. She'd refused to let it out of her sight.

"Put it on my desk," he commanded and Kougyoku did as she was told. "See this mark?"

He was pointing to an eight-point star within a circle that had appeared on the metal. She recognized it immediately. "It's what marks it as a metal vessel, right?"

He nodded. "I'm glad you're not stupid, Kougyoku," he said and for some reason she got the feeling it was a huge compliment. "I have too many stupid sisters."

That comment made her freeze up. When she did not reply Kouen turned his piercing red eyes on her, "if you think I wouldn't know you're foolish after all. We've been keeping an eye on you for years. Now you've shown your worth I think it's time I brought you with me."

He'd explained her duty as a member of the imperial clan, as a dungeon clearer. He'd given her no choice in the matter and as he explained what would be expected of her, in his calm impassive voice, she'd never felt more caged in her life.

She'd spent her childhood in a home where no one liked her and those who did did not dare show it. Now she understood why; in her desperate attempt to hide her daughter, Kougyoku's mother had convinced her uncle to exchange one of her children for one of his. He must have loved his sister very much to have accepted it, but Kougyoku's aunt had never forgiven her.

She'd been afraid and paranoid for so long, not knowing why, only knowing she felt isolated and unhappy. Then she'd stepped into the dungeon and while it had been dangerous, it had also been exhilarating. She'd felt free for the first time in her life.

Kougyoku didn't want to fight for the Kou empire. She didn't want to be dressed up in pretty dresses and made into a doll. Sure, the dresses were wonderful and she loved the feeling of the silk over her skin, but the thought of being used in a political scheme and eventually sold off to some sleazy old regent; that she couldn't accept.

She wanted to go on more adventures, wanted to see the world. And she wanted to figure out what she was going to do with this power she'd been given against her own will.

And then there was a part of her that wanted to see Sinbad again really badly.

Kougyoku had barely thought the thought to an end when a large hand covered the lower side of her face, effectively shutting her up. Her eyes flew open and she thrashed against the hold of her attacker.

An arm covered her shoulders and pinned her to the mattress. Her eyes finally focused on her attacker. It was Sinbad.

When he was sure she wasn't going to fight him anymore he put a finger to his lips and then pointed towards the women sleeping in her room. "Come with me, Kougyoku," he said.

His voice and his smile were so inviting she rose from her bed without much thought.

They walked to the open window and Sinbad helped her out through it. Quickly, he moved from the open roof to a shadow under a tower, dragging the still sleepy princess behind him.

"Where's your sword?" He asked her after they'd reached the safety of the darkness.

Kougyoku had finally awoken completely. She wondered why he was here. There was no way being here would be safe for him or his country. Though she supposed if she vanished into the night without anyone knowing, where or with whom, no one could blame him.

"It's in the office of the Dianxia," she replied.

"Kouen?"

She nodded.

Sinbad looked around at the castle walls once before he started towards the left. Kougyoku followed him cautiously. He was moving with a purpose, yet she could not fathom how he knew where to go. Even she could not tell which was Entei's room from the outside.

The king stopped so suddenly she almost crashed into him. He pointed to a window just above them. It was open, but there was no light inside. "I sense someone there," he whispered. "But their waves are so calm they should be asleep. Be careful."

Kougyoku nodded. With a helping hand from Sinbad she managed to climb through the window. Thankful her eyes were used to the darkness Kougyoku quickly located her sword. It was standing by the desk, leaning against the edge of the table top.

Just as she'd reached out and grabbed her sword someone very close to her said "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

With a squeak of surprise Kougyoku jumped back and lifted her sword, ready to defend herself.

"Put that down, Kougyoku," Kouen said and lit a candle. She hadn't sensed him at all! "You sure took your time. I was starting to fall asleep."

"You - you knew I was going to stea-"

"Don't be moronic," he said. He hadn't snapped it, but it'd felt like it. "The sword is yours. You can't steal what you own. And do you really think a little docile girl who would accept what I described earlier would be able to survive in the dungeon?"

"I had help."

"So?"

Kougyoku opened her mouth, tried to think of something to say and then she closed it again.

Kouen nodded. "Smart girl," he said. "Now, King of Sindria. I'm sure you'd like to join this conversation. Do so before I decide to call the guards."

Kougyoku turned in time to see Sinbad crawl through the window where he settled. He didn't look worried in the least that he was alone in enemy territory, caught trying to kidnap the youngest daughter of the emperor. On the contrary, he was smiling like usual. Kougyoku was starting to realise the smile was a mask, a well-worn tool used to make people feel at ease, to make them lower their guard.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to meet like this," he admitted.

"Then you probably shouldn't have come here."

Sinbad laughed. "Unfortunately I have a promise to Vinea to keep. And I've taken quite a liking to her; she's the first to ever steal a djinn from right under my nose."

"I hope you're aware I'll come after her if you take her," Kouen warned. "She's an asset I can't allow to be stolen."

Kougyoku paled. She'd been following the exchange, looking back and forth, feeling the storm brewing under the surface. Now her brother was threatening war.

"Maybe you should give her to me then," Sinbad said. There was something in his voice. She'd never heard him joke before, and she couldn't imagine him doing so in this situation, but it couldn't be anything else, could it? "A marriage contract would suit the purposes quite well, wouldn't it?"

"Don't be stupid."

Sinbad started laughing. When he calmed a smirk stretched his lips. "But, really, Kouen. Don't you think it's for the best? She'd never feel welcome at court, and that magi of yours would do his best to use that to corrupt her. You wouldn't want that for her, would you? A king vessel needs to see the world, to decide for herself what type of leader she wants to be. You can't give her that. I can.

"Though if you'd rather fight for her..." Sinbad trailed off, watching Kouen expectantly.

The war leader was silent for a long while.

Kougyoku looked from one giant to the other. This was dangerous, she thought. Were they really going to fight over her? She couldn't imagine that. Well, she could imagine it from Entei, but Sinbad was part of a federation that prided itself on never starting wars, on only defending.

"I'm bored of this," Kouen finally said, he was already turning away, his eyes caught on maps and scrolls of information. "Kougyoku, choose."

"Huh?" Kougyoku stared at her brother. Even with his back to her she felt somehow respected by him. He'd given her a choice. No one had ever given her a choice before. She looked from him to an amused Sinbad and back again. "Eh?!"

Sinbad's smile widened. "I believe what Entei is telling you is to do as you please. There will be no consequences."

"We will invade Sindria one day one way or another," Kouen added tersely from his seat, making Sinbad's smile falter, his eyes grow dark.

Kougyoku considered her options. She had suddenly understood something. While a life in the Kou court might seem like an imprisonment at first Entei's comments had showed her exactly how free she would be to act as she pleased under his wing. He would not coddle her, but he would not contain her either for he already understood that she was not a lady but a warrior.

Sinbad's country offered freedom and equality, but his lust for power shackled people to him, caging them better than any chains or bars. The two men were complete opposites but neither held the perfect solution. Yet Kougyoku had seen a darkness in Sinbad that she had not seen in her brother, something more dangerous than a sword or an army, and she could not ignore that.

She stepped up to Kouen's side and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for the offer, brother," she said.

Kouen did not smile, but he grabbed something from his desk and turned his chair so he was facing her. "Bow your head," he commanded. She did as she was told and he fiddled with her bun for a moment. "There. Don't lose it. It'll be your future metal vessel."

Kougyoku smiled at the man she had only known for a couple of hours, yet she felt closer to him than she had the people she'd called family for her whole life. "As you wish."

She turned her back on him and hurried to where Sinbad was standing by the window. "Ready to go?" He asked her.

Kougyoku beamed at him. "Yes."

He'd promised her an adventure, and under his careful tutoring she knew she would grow tremendously. She would become blinded with her loyalty to this bright man and she would purge the darkness he hid at his core.

As she took his hand and journeyed into the night, she brushed the pin in her hair with her free hand.

She'd finally stepped onto the path of a new beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> While answering some of your reviews I've been telling about a new multi-chapter story I've been working on. Here it is. First chapter out of five!
> 
> I've even asked someone to beta this and I must say she did a good job in spite of it being her first time doing it. *waves* thank you Amber~ (though, of course, there are still things you need to learn :D)
> 
> Other than that there are a couple of symbols I thought I'd explain:
> 
> 1\. The red jade comments are a reference to her name, which literally means red jade
> 
> 2\. the Lychee fruit was the first asian fruit I could find that really caught my attention. Not only does it not grow well in the north, but needs the warmth of the south, which I thought was a nice metaphor for the fact that I think she could grow tremendously under Sin's tutelage, but it's also a sort of symbol of fertility (to have a son quickly) and I thought that was a nice hint to the fact that this has slightly romantic undertones, though they aren't very strong. Or at least shouldn't be very strong.
> 
> Anyway. Yeah. Don't expect a lot of romance in this thing since it'd be a couple of years before anything would actually happen between them. Before anyone asks yes, I am thinking of writing another smaller multichap in this story-line set later, but I haven't figured out the story yet so don't expect anything. And don't worry, there will be hints of romance in this one, though not much.
> 
> Any names of minor OCs or titles actually mentioned in this story will be explained in the chapters they appear in so don't worry too much about that. If you have any questions, however, feel free to ask.
> 
> I think that's all.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this story and I look forwards to your opinions of it!
> 
> \- StoneHill


End file.
